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It takes more than 7000 people to cross a small river, and it takes a whole day.

And he also crossed the river to set up camp, which was so considerate, Hu Dinggui didn't have to cross the river to attack the camp.

After nightfall, Hu Dinggui and Chen Fugui led troops down the mountain.They took off their armor and put them in the mountains ahead of time. They all marched lightly for more than ten li in the middle of the night, and finally arrived at the enemy's camp by the river.

The moonlight was bright tonight, Hu Dinggui touched it quietly, and almost laughed out loud when he got close.

The regiment training troops run by these gentry are no different from the peasants who just started to rebel.Knowing nothing, the camp in front of him has made almost all the mistakes that can be made.

Hu Dinggui and Chen Fugui each led [-] soldiers, and they began to approach little by little.

"kill!"

Hu Dinggui kicked over the bamboo fence and rushed into the enemy camp with ease.

Ordinary Tuanyong, almost all sleep in the open air, with a mat or straw mat under their bodies.Although the grass maggots were burned in the evening, the effect had passed by this time, and many Tuanyong were bitten by mosquitoes and could not sleep.

In this state of being unable to sleep, if you march for a few more days, you will be physically and mentally exhausted before the battle.

When the One Thousand Datong Army entered the camp, the regiment warriors woke up one after another.

In the shadows, I don't know how many enemies have come.Their first reaction was to flee, they didn't even bother to take weapons, and ran towards the small river quickly.

puff, puff...

The sound of falling into the water can be heard endlessly, and they all jumped into the river on their own initiative.These Hunan men can almost swim, and they haven't worn armor yet.They had figured it out a long time ago that they would jump into the river to escape if they encountered an enemy. Except for the children of gentry, ordinary soldiers did not want to fight at all.

Especially those tenants, they participated in the group training purely because the landlord promised to reduce the rent this year, and the group training troops can still manage meals every day.

The regiment of more than 7000 people agreed, as if they had received a military order, they scrambled to the north and jumped into the nameless river.Then make various swimming postures, some dog planing, some breaststroke, some freestyle, and the night attack seems to become a swimming competition.

On the edge of the Xiangjiang River, some grain transport ships were also docked, and when they heard the movement, they rowed away immediately.

A thousand Datong troops chased to the river, and they were all dumbfounded watching the tumbling river under the moonlight.

Hu Dinggui and Chen Fugui looked at each other, both dumbfounded.

"How many did you kill?" Hu Dinggui asked.

Chen Fugui said: "I only cared about chasing the enemy and disturbing the enemy's camp. I didn't kill any of them."

One thousand Datong elites attacked more than 7000 regiments at night and smashed through the enemy's camp. It seems that no blood was shed on both sides.

Tuanyong didn't have time to escape, so he lay down on the ground and surrendered.In order to disturb the camp as soon as possible, the Datong army rushed deeper and frantically, regardless of killing those lying on the ground.

It is the first time that Hu Dinggui has fought such a strange battle since joining the army.

After dawn, the number of people was counted and more than 600 prisoners were captured.

And finally found the casualties, one Tuan Yong was trampled to death, and seven Tuan Yong were stabbed to death.

"Is this considered a victory?" Chen Fugui was a little puzzled, because most of the enemy troops escaped successfully.

Hu Dinggui pointed to the food and grass in the camp, and said with a smile: "We must have won the battle. The enemy army has no food and grass. If you think about it, you don't know how long it will take."

Chen Fugui scratched his head and said, "They are here to deliver food and grass."

"Hahahaha!"

Hu Dinggui laughed happily.

There must be a lot of food and grass for more than 7000 people.It's a pity that half of them were transported by boat, and they had already rowed away at night, otherwise more could be seized.

Hu Dinggui summoned the captives and asked, "Where did they come from?"

"Xiangyin, Xia Jiachong." A prisoner replied.

Hu Dinggui was a little surprised: "You actually speak Jiangxi dialect?"

The prisoner said: "I heard from my elders that our entire village was relocated from Dexing, Jiangxi."

"Old Cousin," Hu Dinggui said with a smile, "I'm from Fengcheng, not far from Dexing, with only a few counties in between. Why do you want to help the government fight the war?"

The prisoner replied: "Master Xia said that as long as you join the army and be brave in the regiment, the land rent will be reduced by [-]% this year. Send troops to fight, and the master will take care of the food."

Hu Dinggui simply called hundreds of captives over and said loudly, "You guys are so worthless. A few buckets of rice are helping the landlord to work hard. Has anyone heard of Zhao Tianwang?"

"Listen... I have." The prisoners replied sparsely, and many of them looked terrified.

Hu Dinggui felt that there was a problem, so he said: "Tell me, what kind of person is Zhao Tianwang on your side?"

No one answered, and they dared not speak.

Hu Dinggui pointed to the former prisoner: "Cousin, tell me, don't tell lies!"

The prisoner trembled and said, "King Zhao Tian likes to kill people, and he also likes to eat human flesh. King Zhao's soldiers want to kill all the young and strong, they want to rob all the women, and they even use children as rations."

"Damn it, these landlords really know how to make up!" Hu Dinggui was furious, and ordered, "Master, come here and tell them, I'm going to bed first!"

The soldiers took turns to rest for half a day. After lunch, Hu Dinggui ordered to return, and the hundreds of captives were all used to transport food.

Along the way, the missionary officers repeatedly explained the policy, and the eyes of the prisoners shone.

Not only the tenants, but also the self-cultivating farmers, as long as Mr. Zhao comes, they can also divide the land.

Hu Dinggui wanted to give Li Zheng a suggestion that after the fight, he would distribute food to the captives and let them go home to actively promote it.

The captives and food were still on the way. Li Zheng had already received the news and immediately asked people to write more letters of persuasion.

"Fu Shuai, there are bandits in the north!"

Wang Zhiliang immediately ran to the north wall, and sure enough, he saw a thousand Datong army escorting hundreds of prisoners.There was too much food, hundreds of prisoners were too busy, and hundreds of Datong troops were assigned to transport food.

Li Zheng immediately asked people to shoot letters into the city, and the officers and soldiers guarding the city looked ashen with fright.

Especially those gentry recruiting troops to organize training regiments, trembling with fright at the moment.The content of the letter is very simple. Li Zheng lied that he captured Xiangyin and that Changsha had become an isolated city.

The gentry went to find Wang Zhiliang, and Wang Zhiliang said calmly, "Don't panic, this is a lie."

A gentry said anxiously: "But the bandits really came from the north, and they brought a lot of prisoners and luggage. Xiangyin must have fallen!"

Wang Zhiliang explained: "Either the rebels ambushed the reinforcements, or the rebels went to the north to plunder. They snatched the prisoners and luggage."

The moat outside the city has been filled with soil for a large section by Li Zheng's grain transport team every day.

Tao Aizhi looked at the part of the moat that had been filled up, and quietly instructed the three younger brothers to do something.Then he went to Wang Zhiliang, cupped his hands and said, "Fu Shuai, Wansheng can hang out in a basket at night and go to the camp of the rebels to feign surrender. Make an appointment to be an internal response. Three days later, we will raise a fire as a sign. When they enter the Wengcheng, we will come here." Catch the turtle in the urn. Although it can't wipe out the bandit army, it can dampen their morale and boost our army's morale."

There were more than 1000 defenders in the city, and the Tao family recruited more than 4000. Wang Zhiliang attached great importance to the four Tao brothers.

Wang Zhiliang shook his head and said, "The rebels won't be fooled, they will detain you, don't take such a risk."

Tao Aizhi said: "Wansheng can tell the rebels that Fu Shuai made Wansheng feign surrender, and that Wansheng really intends to follow the thieves. Then he can get away calmly with the excuse of going back to the city to make arrangements."

Wang Zhiliang did not agree, but fell into deep thought.

The city of Changsha is tall and strong, and it is definitely no problem to defend the city. The problem is that morale has been falling.

The offensive and defensive battles of ancient cities often lasted for several months.Unless the whole army has the will to die, they will never block the gates of the city.One of the important reasons for keeping the city gate is to go out of the city to play a few games at any time. A small victory can boost morale, and even a tie can boost morale.Otherwise, the longer the siege lasts, the lower the morale of the defenders will be.

And the mob under Wang Zhiliang's command had only been besieged for half a month, and their morale had already fluctuated. A small victory was necessary.

At this moment, Wang Zhiliang was looking forward to the rebels rushing to attack the city. He could use the city to continuously inflict damage on the rebels.As long as it can cause damage, it can boost morale, but Li Zheng is just slowly filling the moat.

Seeing the moat being filled section by section, it was simply a kind of torment for the mob in the city.

When the rebels really attacked the city, they didn't panic so much.

That feeling, as if there is still a boot left.

After thinking about it, Wang Zhiliang decided to take a risk and said to Tao Aizhi, "Then you should leave the city tonight."

Tao Aizhi also had no choice, the city gate was full of Wang Zhiliang's soldiers.And his Tao family's soldiers were all used to guard the city wall, and they were divided into four groups.

He wanted to set fire to the city at night, but he was afraid of failure, and the four brothers would definitely be beheaded.

Only by letting Li Zheng lead his troops to attack the city and attack the sections of the walls defended by Tao's soldiers, can the two sides cooperate perfectly.But this is tantamount to letting Li Zheng take a risk. If Tao's soldiers cheat, under insufficient preparation, Datong soldiers will definitely suffer heavy casualties.

Neither Li Zheng nor Tao Aizhi really trusted each other.

In Li Zheng's view, Tao Aizhi has four thousand soldiers, and he can just jump back inside the city, and then he will be able to take the opportunity to attack the city.

To put it bluntly, I want the other party to do it first, so that it has been delayed until now.

Tao Aizhi ventured out of the city this time because he wanted to communicate with Li Zheng face to face, otherwise they would not cooperate with each other tacitly.

Chapter 247 [Seize the city at night]

On the fourth watch, Tao Aizhi came down from the basket.

Li Zheng camped several miles away, he had to run all the way, and he was out of breath after running two miles.

Tao Aizhi put her hands on her knees, bent over and gasped for breath, slowed down and continued running.

"Ouch!"

Suddenly, Tao Aizhi was tripped by someone, and when she tried to get up again, a knife was already pressed against her throat.

The secret sentry of the Datong Army has been hiding in the grass.

Tao Aizhi quickly said: "Take me to see the commander of your army quickly, and tell us about the urgent military situation!"

As soon as this remark came out, the secret sentry did not dare to delay, and immediately searched Tao Aizhi's weapons, and then led him to his camp.

Knowing Tao Aizhi's identity, Li Zheng was quite surprised, and couldn't help laughing: "You dare to go out of the city, aren't you afraid that the governor will kill some of your brothers?"

"Whirring whirring……"

Tao Aizhi was almost tired. Although he was young and vigorous, he was a scholar after all, and he had already exceeded his physical limit after running for several miles.

After entering the camp, Tao Aizhi changed to a slow walk, and was still panting after entering the handsome tent.He slowed down for a while, a little calmer, cupped his hands and said: "I lied about surrendering, and made an appointment with the governor to lure the general to attack the city in three days."

Li Zheng asked: "Then when do you think the city should be attacked?"

"General, please send troops immediately to attack the city at five o'clock tonight, the governor will never think of that!" Tao Aizhi said.

Tao Aizhi left the city at 2:3 at night, running and stopping all the way, and it was almost [-]:[-] when he met Li Zheng.He asked Li Zheng to attack the city at five watchdays, which was equivalent to the Datong army gathering at night, carrying the siege ladder and rushing for several miles. The total time-consuming must be about two hours.

"Tonight?" Li Zheng didn't dare to gamble, he didn't know Tao Aizhi well, and he didn't know much about the situation in the city.

The most important thing was that Tao Aizhi took his whole family into the city in order to gain the governor's trust, and Li Zheng had no hostages at all.

Time was running out, Tao Aizhi said anxiously: "General, don't hesitate, tie me up quickly, and I will be the hostage myself. If the matter fails, kill me. Tonight is a great opportunity. The governor knows that I will leave the city at four o'clock. I will never think of the general." Siege at the fifth watch!"

Tao Aizhi was willing to be a hostage herself, Li Zheng was finally moved when he heard this, and asked, "Tell me about your strategy."

Tao Aizhi quickly explained: "Governor Wang Zhiliang is very cautious. The more than 1000 defenders in the city are divided into three groups to defend the city in turn. Every morning and evening, the defense is changed. Moreover, only two quarters of an hour before the change of defense, people He knows which regiments are defending where. The gates without urn city are all blocked by him. The gates with urn city are guarded by soldiers brought by him."

"You're someone who knows how to defend the city. No wonder you haven't done anything." Li Zheng nodded.

Tao Aizhi continued: "Tonight my second brother guards one part of the south city, the third brother guards the north part, and the fourth brother rests in the barracks inside the city. I have already ordered that at five o'clock, three torches will be lit on the south wall As soon as the general attacks the south city, the fourth brother will set fire to the city, the second brother will support the general in the south city, and the third brother will wait for an opportunity to disrupt the situation in the north city."

"Aside from your four brothers, who else knows about this?" Li Zheng asked.

"Only a few confidant house slaves know, general, don't worry, they will never leak the secret." Tao Aizhi said very firmly.

Twenty years ago, there were only four men left in the Tao family, one of whom was an old man who was dying.

The Tao family's tens of thousands of acres of land are all supported by confidantes and slaves.They are afraid of troubles between house slaves and tenants, so they treat people very leniently. The monthly money of house slaves and the land rent of tenants are the best for tens of miles around.

Moreover, Tao Ai had made promises to those confidant domestic slaves in the army.As long as they help the Datong army capture Changsha, they will be freed afterwards. These domestic slaves are more urgent than Tao Aizhi.

"Assemble the army, without luggage, only with siege ladders, and set off immediately after assembly!"

After Li Zheng made up his mind, he acted immediately.

He didn't tie Tao Aizhi either, but just threw her in the camp and let the grain transportation team take care of it.

In fact, Li Zheng didn't have many soldiers, only 1500 regular soldiers and 1500 peasant soldiers, and the rest were all civilian food transport teams.Originally, there were 2000 soldiers and peasant soldiers, but 500 each were allocated to go south to help Huang Yao attack Xiangtan.

There were only 3000 soldiers left, but the [-] defenders were too frightened to come out.

Because Wang Zhiliang, Wang Qisheng and others did not think that there were only three thousand bandits.They also counted Li Zheng's grain transportation team, which in general had a strength of nearly [-].

It is indeed possible to calculate this way. After entering the battle, Li Zheng's food transport team is estimated to be more brave than the newly formed regiment in the city, at least the enthusiasm for fighting is much higher.

Three thousand soldiers assembled at night and brought up the ladder. It took a total of 30 minutes, and there was an hour and a half left.

Li Zheng personally led the troops, advancing quickly without rushing, without running.

It's only a few miles away, and it takes one and a half hours to arrive, which is more than enough time.

There is a small river to be crossed in the middle, and there are dozens of boats owned by Li Zheng by the river.

These boats assembled at Xiaohe at night, not far from Li Zheng's camp.During the day, they would go to Liuyang River and Xiangjiang River to serve as sentinel boats to investigate the news of various places.

It took more than half a day for the more than 7000 regiments trained by Hu Dinggui to cross a small river.